Americans United - FreedomWorkshttps://www.au.org/tags/freedomworks
enTyranny: At The Values Voter Summit, A Heavy Word Is So Lightly Thrown https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/tyranny-at-the-values-voter-summit-a-heavy-word-is-so-lightly-thrown
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">To supporters of the Religious Right, any attempt to stop them from running the lives of others is tyranny.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Yesterday my colleague Simon Brown <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/outrageous-oration-values-voter-summit-ignores-reality">offered some thoughts</a> on the Religious Right's <a href="http://www.frcaction.org/get.cfm?i=PG13J03">Values Voter Summit</a>, which he attended this weekend.</p><p>I was there for part of it as well. One thing that struck me was the constant use of the word “tyranny.” To supporters of the Religious Right, any attempt to stop them from running the lives of others or expecting them to obey the same laws that the rest of us must follow is tyranny.</p><p>The word was frequently pressed into service during a Saturday afternoon session I attended titled “Where Do We go From Here?: Challenging Tyranny.”</p><p>One of the speakers, Dean Clancy of FreedomWorks, discussed tyranny extensively. Clancy told the crowd, “FreedomWorks is very much concerned about tyranny. It is a very real thing.”</p><p>Clancy blasted the “judicial tryranny” of Supreme Court rulings that legalized abortion, decriminalized homosexual acts between consenting adults and struck down key portions of the Defense of Marriage Act..</p><p>“These are all tyrannical decisions,” he fumed. A moment later Clancy blasted “fiscal tyranny” and “monetary tyranny” that, he said, are so bad that “eventually our country will be ruined financially.”</p><p>(Clancy’s answer to all of this tyranny is, not surprisingly, highly partisan. He told the crowd to elect the right kind of Republicans, remarking, “One Ted Cruz or Mike Lee is worth 10 Bob Corkers.”)</p><p>Terry Jeffrey, editor of the far-right <a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/">CNSNews</a>, spoke just before Clancy. He also ranted about the “tyranny” of Obamacare and the requirement that most secular employers permit their workers to access health-care plans that include contraceptives.</p><p>“That’s a pretty powerful word – tyranny,” Jeffrey said. “But I think it’s an appropriate one.”</p><p>A third speaker, Luther Strange, attorney general of Alabama, talked about how state officials can block tyranny by gumming up federal laws and mandates.</p><p>Much of the outrage at the Summit, which was sponsored primarily by the Family Research Council, the American Family Association and the Heritage Foundation, was aimed at the new health-care law. I realize that Americans have different opinions about the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Americans United doesn’t take a stand on it, except to say that the birth control mandate promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services reflects common sense and good public-health policy; someone’s decision to use birth control in no way impedes another’s religious liberty.</p><p>The American people may disagree on the ACA., but I would hope we could debate these issues with civility and employ some modicum of reason. Claims that the United States is on the verge of becoming a police state because of law that aims to help poor people get access to health care aren’t helpful. </p><p>Similar hyperbolic claims were made at another session I attended. The session ostensibly aimed to arm attendees with answers to “tough questions” about marriage equality and the HHS mandate. The answers given were familiar and tiresome Religious Right bromides wrapped in – you guessed it – claims of tyranny.</p><p>According to the Religious Right, it is “tyranny” to expect a businessperson who claims to serve the public to actually serve all of the public. These folks want a legal right to discriminate against LGBT Americans, and they scream “tyranny” when they are told that won’t fly. I suspect the innkeepers, restaurant owners, etc. in the Jim Crow South said the same thing when the federal government told them that their days of discriminating against African Americans were over.</p><p>I am a fan of the 1980s British pop band the Smiths. The Smiths’ singer and front man, who often went by his last name of Morrissey, is known for his ability to turn a clever phrase. In the song <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Difference_Does_It_Make%3F">“What Difference Does It Make?”</a> Morrissey warns of the dangers of “heavy words…so lightly thrown.”</p><p>Indeed there is a danger: In the case of the Values Voter Summit, a false definition of “tyranny” drains that word of its power. There are people in the world suffering under regimes that are really tyrannical. These people can be imprisoned, tortured and even killed for their religious or political beliefs.</p><p>In light of this, a Religious Right activist’s claims that our country has embraced “tyranny” because someone else is able to buy health care or get birth control sounds rather silly. It threatens to dull our senses to real tyranny and not speak up when we see it. In a world where every perceived slight is tyranny, it becomes too easy to overlook real instances of human-rights violations.</p><p>Morrissey was right. Tyranny is indeed a heavy word. Yet it was lightly thrown about at the Values Voter Summit.</p><p>For that – and for many other things – the Religious Right has so much to answer for. </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-including-same-sex-marriage">Marriage (including same-sex Marriage)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/reproductive-health-conscience-clauses-for-religious-objectors">Reproductive Health &amp; Conscience Clauses for Religious Objectors</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/values-voter-summit">Values Voter Summit</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/FRC">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/heritage-foundation">Heritage Foundation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/the-smiths">the Smiths</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/morrissey">Morrissey</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/birth-control-mandate">birth control mandate</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/affordable-care-act">Affordable Care Act</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/freedomworks">FreedomWorks</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/dean-clancy">Dean Clancy</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/terry-jeffrey">Terry Jeffrey</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/luther-strange">Luther Strange</a></span></div></div>Tue, 15 Oct 2013 14:23:48 +0000Rob Boston9053 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/tyranny-at-the-values-voter-summit-a-heavy-word-is-so-lightly-thrown#commentsArmey Invades Pennsylvania: Former House Majority Leader Holds Tea Party For School Vouchers https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/armey-invades-pennsylvania-former-house-majority-leader-holds-tea-party-for
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Should it be up to you and other taxpayers to bail out Catholic schools? </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>I’ve had occasion to hear followers of the Tea Party speak at Religious Right gatherings. To put it mildly, they seem to be very perturbed over government spending. They claim they want lower taxes, less spending and smaller government.</p>
<p>So what are they doing in Pennsylvania demanding that the state government create a massive new welfare program for religious and other private schools?</p>
<p>Dick Armey (remember him?) was in the Keystone State recently rallying the Tea Party faithful on behalf of a proposal to divert as much as $1 billion in taxpayer money into a voucher program. Armey’s group, FreedomWorks, is really turning up the heat. According to <em>The Washington Post</em>, Armey has <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2011/04/28/AFI8cc2G_story.html">personally lobbied</a> legislators in Harrisburg and has appeared at events around the state.</p>
<p>Reported <em>The Post</em>, “The goal for FreedomWorks is two-fold: to keep activists engaged enough to enter 2012 with a grassroots network at least as strong as the one that played so dramatic a role last year; and to use that network right now to push newly elected conservatives to accomplish something while in power.”</p>
<p>In Pennsylvania, that “something” appears to be a wide-ranging voucher scheme that might eventually cover the entire state. Gov. Tom Corbett backs the plan, and the state Senate plans to vote on it this week.</p>
<p>Although vouchers are often portrayed as an effort to help children trapped in poor-performing public schools, they are actually bailouts for private religious education.</p>
<p>Across Pennsylvania, many Catholic schools are <a href="http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/02/28/philadelphia-archdiocese-closing-seven-area-catholic-grade-schools/">closing</a>. Much of this is due to a cultural shift. There was a time when Catholics felt duty bound to send their children to church schools – even if their neighborhood public schools were well regarded. Those days are long gone. Many Catholic parents today are happy to rely on public schools. Facing dwindling enrollments, church schools are <a href="http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/134895/Pittsburgh-area-Catholic-school-closing-in-June-.html?isap=1&amp;nav=757">going</a> <a href="http://www.thecarbondalenews.com/features/x396829119/Sacred-Heart-Closing">under</a>.</p>
<p>Should it be up to you and other taxpayers to bail them out? Armey seems to think so, but I find this a curious stand for a limited-government guy to take. It looks like parents are voting with their feet. If market forces are closing these private schools, who are we to try to shake off the old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_hand">Invisible Hand</a>?</p>
<p>As for Armey’s alliance with the Tea Party, I suspect it’s designed mostly to benefit Armey. I recall that in the late 1990s, Armey, who had never been known for his personal piety, suddenly decided he was born again and began popping up at Religious Right meetings, appealing for support by giving speeches attacking legal abortion and calling for more religion in public life.</p>
<p>Armey, a Texas Republican who served as House Majority Leader from 1995-2003, had never cared much about these issues before and has said little about them since leaving office. He’s now back on the anti-government tirade: FreedomWorks doesn’t like public schools because it doesn’t like public anything. The man will ride whatever train will allow him on board. If it’s the Tea Party express, so be it.</p>
<p>I am a native of Pennsylvania and would advise my friends in that state to take alarm. Armey and his Tea Party pals don’t believe in the concept of public education. In fact, they’d like to abolish it. The voucher plan is the first step toward that goal.</p>
<p>It’s a crucial time for Pennsylvania, so get on the phone, fire up the e-mails and start spreading the word. Armey wants you to pay for someone else’s religion. Tell your legislators that you find that unacceptable. Demand that they support public education and church-state separation.</p>
<p>For good measure, ask them to send the interloper Armey back to Texas.</p>
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</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/dick-armey">Dick Armey</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/freedomworks">FreedomWorks</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vouchers">vouchers</a></span></div></div>Mon, 16 May 2011 15:30:08 +0000Rob Boston2193 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/armey-invades-pennsylvania-former-house-majority-leader-holds-tea-party-for#comments